The Privileges: Rags to Riches in the Twenty-first Century

Jonathan Dee's new book, The Privileges, has been paired with other novels about money and the 2009 economic collapse in recent reviews. This seems like a logical choice for a novel that traces the lives of Adam and Cynthia Morey, an extremely attractive couple who quickly rises to the upper echelons of Manhattan wealth after getting married at the age of 22. The Moreys (think more + money) are a couple that inspires envy and hate. Blessed with two beautiful children, they are also favored by Adam's wealthy boss, allowing Adam to become fabulously wealthy--seemingly without--any work.

About ten years into the marriage, Adam becomes involved in a classic insider trading scheme. But the story doesn't end here. Dee doesn't take Adam down. The point is not to show how wealth leads to greed. Instead, Dee lets Adam walk away without criminal prosecution, and go on to leave a productive life in New York high society. The point is to show how greed leads to wealth.

This is because, at its heart, The Privileges has more in common with The Great Gatsby than with The Bonfire of the Vanities. Like Gatsby, the Moreys embrace the wholly American definition of success. Like Gatsby, the Moreys are also driven by love; in this case, their "epic love" for each other, as their son puts it, pushes them forward. Most importantly, like Gatsby, the Moreys are determined to free themselves of the shackles of their histories. Adam and Cynthia come from middle class backgrounds, from parents whom they refuse to ever acknowledge. Though we meet Mr. Morey at Adam and Cynthia's wedding, we don't hear about his again until Adam is forced to tell his firm that his father is dead. The silence is painful when Adam fails to understand his colleague's shocked expressions. As far as Adam is concerned, his father has nothing to do with his current identity as a rainmaking venture capitalist.

No - the Moreys are not likable. Dee uses free indirect style to show us how Adam and Cynthia think. They are disdainful of anyone who hangs on to their pasts or acts based on nostalgia. Cynthia's stepsister accuses her of raising two spoiled children. Maybe she should withhold things from time to time, she suggests. Cynthia silently laughs at this idea; what's the point of imposing hardship on children simply to replicate some romantic notion?

While Cynthia and Adam remain flat throughout the novel, the only dynamic character who's morality is at stake is their son, Jonas. He is into indie music, art, and actually gets along with Cynthia's stepsister. The novel's climax involves a moment when Jonas has to decide if he'll pursue and interest in art and history, or focus on living in the present, with eyes set on the future like his parents.

Throughout, Dee creates a tension in the reader. We are at once jealous and horrified at the Moreys. On the one hand, we want to be like them; so forward looking and unburdened by the past. On the other hand, we pity them for their myopia -- their inability to see how their lives lack meaning and create a destructive path. To be or not to be like the Moreys? It's up to us to decide.